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Dragon Boat Festival

Dragon Boat Festival, commonly called Duanwujie in
Chinese, as it is celebrated on the 5th of the fifth month of the Chinese lunar
calendar. Duanwu means the 5th of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, and jie
means festival, hence the name. For thousands of years, this traditional
festival has been passed down from one generation to the next. It has been
marked by eatingzongzi
(steamed glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves) and racing dragon boats.

About the origin of the Duanwu Festival, the most popular explanation
among the ordinary Chinese people is that it was derived from the activities of
commemorating a great patriot poet, Qu Yuan. The story about Qu Yuan has been
deeply rooted in Chinese culture and this festival, and passed down for more
than 2,000 years. So it is definitely a very important factor for the origin of
the festival.

But since some of the well-known traditions of the festival already existed even
before Qu Yuan, other origins of the festival were also suggested. One
explanation is that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from people's worship of
dragons. In ancient China, people believed the dragon was the god in charge of
water, which was vitally important to daily life and agricultural production. On
the way of Duanwu, people raced dragon boats to entertain
the god and offered him zongzi as a
treat. The sole purpose was to please the god to ensure a year of favorable
weather. Another view is that the festival originated from the taboo of evil
days. The fifth month of the Chinese lunar calendar is traditionally considered
as evil month and the 5th of the month is particularly a bad day, so a lot of
taboo had been developed.

Most likely, the festival was gradually derived from all of the suggestions and
the story of Qu Yuan is certainly the driving power to make it a great festival
today.

The celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival consists of the two major activities
- eating zongzi and
racing dragon boats. Zongziis the most popular food for the festival. The dragon boat races
are the most popular activity during the festival, especially in Southern China.

Ancient Chinese believed that the day of Duanwu was unlucky because midsummer was just
around corner. The hot weather used to bring various diseases, which could
spread rampant-ly. Dispelling disease and driving out evil were the main purpose
of the festival. People would paste on their front doors postures of
Zhongkuiï¼OEa legendary Chinese ghost-catcher. People would also use cattail and
mugwort leaves to drive away mosquitoes and other insects.

Since children are generally the most vulnerable to disease, they received extra
care at this special time. Children would wear necklaces or bracelets, made of
red, yellow, blue, white and black threads, to keep evil away from them. They
would also receive colorful pouches containing fragrant herbal medicines as
presents. They hung these around their necks, and would compete with one another
to see whose pouch had the finest needlework. Mothers also made sure to battle
their children in water boiled with herbal medicines. Modern science has proven
that these medicines are, in fact, quite beneficial to health.

Ancient Chinese believed realgar was an antidote for all poisons, and therefore
most effective to drive away evil spirits and kill insects. So everyone would
drink some realgar wine during the Duanwu Festival, and children would have the
Chinese character for "King" written on their foreheads with realgar wine.